Beat The Heat: Your Summer Holiday Fitness Check List

On-the-go exercise, hydration and nutrition – we’ll help you make the most of your summer holiday fitness endeavors so you can get some head-turning hard-body results this summer!

Summer Holidays Hard Body

The warm feeling of the sun can provide an encouraging lift in attitude that will help supercharge your exercise efforts, and fresh air is invigorating while vitamin D provided by the sun is an essential nutrient to the body. With that in mind, your summer holidays can be a great time to really nail down your fitness agenda and get some head-turning hard body results. And that solid exercise groove will remain with you as you transition back to your regular work and/ or family life schedule. What’s more, we’ve got some great tips for exercise, packing the right healthy foods while munching on-the-go, plus the 411 on hydration – at home outdoors, the cottage or the local park!

H2O I.Q: Your 411 on Hydration

Whether you’re swimming, running, cycling, roller blading or fitness training, staying hydrated and maintaining you body’s electrolytes and salt will be key. When you sweat, your body loses not only water, but electrolytes and salt, too. This delicate balance of water and electrolytes is crucial to keep your body functioning properly, so during training it is also important to replenish. In fact, you can make your very own homemade eLifestyle Sport Drink to help you recover quicker!

Poor Hydration Signs & Symptoms

Light-headedness

Dry mouth

Nausea

Low energy and stamina

Muscle cramping

Meeting Fluid Requirements While Active. During sessions of physical exercise you are creating a much higher demand on your body. Therefore, in order to satisfy your basic fluid requirements, plus the additional demand put forth during sport and exercise, you need to tap into extra water resources. This means increasing water intake by one cup of water about a half hour prior to working out, while also sipping away during exercise. At the end of your workout follow up with an additional cup of water for each half hour you were exercising.

Summer Exercise – Your Take Anywhere Options

To take advantage of the good weather, outdoor training is where it’s at. Whether setting up in your backyard, the cottage, or even the local park, you don’t need much. There are a few light, take anywhere pieces of training equipment that will guarantee you get a great full-body workout in the shortest amount of time: TRX Suspension Training (you’ll need a sturdy object to attach from overhead like a tree branch, soccer field net, or kids climbers in the park), Yoga mat, Stability ball (optional).

Snack Pack – 3 Easy Rules

No matter your fitness goals, snacking is an essential part of any healthy eating plan. Regular nibbling keeps blood sugar levels stable and can help prevent overeating later in the day. However, benefiting from this plan depends on one crucial variable: the kind of food you put into your mouth. It can be a caloric conundrum if you only count the calories in what you eat as the calorie count of any snack choice is just a number until you compare the make-up of those calories to another. Looking for a solid plan? Check out our popular eTransformation 12-Week Online Weight Loss & Lifestyle Program!

There are three simple rules to follow when mastering your munchies.First, chew down a light sugar-free snack of just 100 to 200 calories. Second, make sure that snack provides balanced nutrition – some carbs, protein, and healthy fats. And three, the serving size you eat depends on your activity level. By comparison, routinely downing a sugar-saturated doughnut may fill the void for the moment, but eventually the sugar crash will zap your energy and beef up your beltline.

eLifestyle snack suggestion: 6 oz of Greek yogurt with fresh fruit. You’ll get several grams of fiber, 15-20 grams of fast-digesting simple sugar carbs to fuel your engine, plus a hefty 14 grams of protein! Have any time at home, or take on the go.

In The Fast Food Lane

Nowadays, even fast food restaurants are in tune with a healthy lifestyle by offering salads and fruit on their menus. The produce section and deli at the grocery store offer a variety of grab-and-go options, and plenty of sit down restaurants offer lots of fresh vegetables and fruit options.

eLifestyle Top 3 Fast Food Suggestions:

1. Sandwich and sub shops. They offer a variety of vegetables to add to your sandwich or eat on the side. Ask if they can use less meat or cheese and add more vegetables. Go easy on the butter, mayonnaise and other high fat sauces.

2. Burger joints. Try one of the entrée salads that many are offering. If you go for the burger, choose a salad or fruit salad side instead of fries. Have 100% fruit juice in place of pop or coffee. And say no to “super sizing” your meal. No one needs that much food all at once.

3. Restaurants. Try one of the entrée salads that many are offering. If you go for the burger, choose a salad or fruit salad side instead of fries. Have 100% fruit juice in place of pop or coffee. And say no to “super sizing” your meal. No one needs that much food all at once. Also, watch your portion sizes. Eat until you’re comfortably full, and then take the rest to go.

No Excuses!

Most people plan to exercise outdoors when the good weather hits, but few seldom make that a reality. Don’t fall off the fitness wagon this summer! Your take-anywhere-anytime approach to your training and nutrition will have your fitness interests going full tilt while keeping you on par with your goals. Keeping a variety of training tools on hand that can easily travel with you from your personal home space to the cottage or anywhere on-the-go, will have you turning heads this summer!